Fotios Barkas, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Moses Elisaf
Abstract
Despite the favorable impact of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment on cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality, patient compliance is frequently poor in clinical practice even in high risk populations. This leads to worsening of clinical outcomes and higher long-term healthcare costs. Several measures have been proposed to improve compliance. Single-pill formulations that would contain various drugs treating CV risk factors can improve the compliance and lead to a long overdue reduction in vascular events. The aim of this review is to emphasize the lack of compliance with prescribed lipid-lowering and antihypertensive drugs along with its impact on CV mortality and morbidity and present the benefits of fixed-dose combinations in regard to patient compliance and CV risk.
Keywords: Compliance, cardiovascular, morbidity, mortality, antihypertensive, hypolipidemic, fixed-dose, combination therapy and statins